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How To Get A Morning Erection

Once upon a time, you used to wake up with sturdy erections. These days, you rarely wake up with morning wood at all. What’s worse is that, whenever you do, it’s not nearly as stiff as it used to be.

Now, if you can’t seem to get/maintain that morning erection, your first instinct might be to blame it on your testosterone levels.

While it’s true that nocturnal penile tumescence (the scientific name for those spontaneous erections you get while asleep) is largely testosterone driven (1), the morning wood issue is a bit more complicated than that.

Yes, your nocturnal wood relies heavily on testosterone while you’re asleep. But during the daytime, there are other factors that can affect your erection. Even if you tried to use pharmaceuticals to increase your testosterone levels, you probably wouldn’t end up addressing the real issue.

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to increase your chances of getting/maintaining that morning wood. Before you decide to put any drugs in your body, consider some of these simple tips. Mastering your morning erections may be easier than you think!

Increase Dopamine Levels:

Dopamine is a compound in the body that helps control your brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Beyond that, dopamine heavily affects your daytime erections (and how long you’re able to maintain them). So, if you wake up with weak morning wood, lack of this neurotransmitter may be to blame.

According to a study in 2001…

“…the release of dopamine at the level of the nucleus accumbens (innervated by the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway) positively regulated the anticipatory/motivational phase of copulatory behavior.” (2)

Translation? The more dopamine your body releases into your brain, the more you experience that rush of sexual desire. Unfortunately, if your dopamine levels are too low, it’s going to be harder for you to…..well, get hard.

While it might seem strange, there is a notable connection between your dopamine levels and your ability to consistently get erections. Dopamine is more than just the “feel good” neurotransmitter that elevates your sexual desire.

By increasing your dopamine levels, you increase your chances of getting strong erections in the morning.

How to Increase Dopamine Levels Naturally:

Of course, in today’s modern society, it’s no surprise that most men have depleted dopamine reserves. After all, a sedentary lifestyle is terrible for your dopamine levels. (3) Aside from having a negative effect on your erections (and morning wood), low dopamine levels can cause everything from anxiety to aggression and even depression.

When it comes to increasing your dopamine levels naturally, start with the basics. At this point, you should be cutting out foods that lower your dopamine levels. Sugar (meaning everything from high fructose corn syrup to agave) and high glycemic carbohydrates (like cake, crackers and white bread) have no place in your diet. (4) Replacing those foods with nutrient dense alternatives is a no-brainer.

Once you’ve dealt with your nutrition, it’s time to get a bit creative. If you’re looking to raise your dopamine levels, focus on keeping things exciting in bed. Let’s face it: boring sex is the worst kind of sex. If you do the same thing over and over again in bed, it’s natural for your dopamine levels to start dropping. After all, dopamine loves novelty.

So, you want that spike of dopamine? Try something different! Don’t be afraid to try new positions, experiment with toys or start role playing. Constantly spicing things up in the bedroom is one of the best ways to get that dopamine rush! (5)

Increase Acetylcholine Levels:

Another neurotransmitter worth paying attention to is acetylcholine. Have you ever wondered how you can get physically turned on just by seeing something? Well, acetylcholine is a dedicated chemical messenger that gets sent along the spinal cord from your brain to your penis.

Think of it this way: dopamine is in charge of getting you excited about sex, right? Well, acetylcholine is in charge of actually stimulating your erections. (6) If your acetylcholine levels are too low, you’re going to have a tough time getting/staying erect.

How to Increase Acetylcholine Levels Naturally:

Now, acetylcholine is made using a B vitamin called choline. So, if you’re suffering from a choline deficiency, your ability to maintain a solid erection is going to be compromised.

There are few reasons why someone might have a choline deficiency. Honestly, most men probably aren’t getting enough choline from their food. If you’re worried that your choline deficiency might be diet related, here’s a short list of some foods that have high levels of choline:

Eggs

Almonds

Broccoli

Oat Bran

Peanut Butter

Low-fat Cheese

Lean Ground Beef

Cod, Salmon, or Tilapia

If you haven’t been eating enough of those foods (or other foods that are high in choline), there is a good chance that your morning wood issues originate from low acetylcholine levels. Now, you may be thinking to yourself “wait a minute… I eat those foods already!” Unfortunately for you, in times of stress, choline can be depleted faster than normal. (7)

Even if you’re getting enough choline from your diet, there are still a few ways you can develop a choline deficiency. Consuming alcohol, for example, causes an increase in your bodies’ choline requirement. If you were to abuse alcohol without paying attention to your choline intake, it’s completely possible that you’d end up with a choline deficiency. (8) Excessive exercise can cause a choline deficiency in the same way. (9)

If you need to find a new way to get more choline into your system, you could always give supplements a shot. CDP-Choline, for example, releases choline into the body upon ingestion. (10) Lecithin and phosphatidylcholine are also great supplements if you’re looking to get more choline into your system. (11)

If you’re looking to restore your acetylcholine levels to their optimal point, make sure you’re consuming 550 mg of choline daily. (12) If you’re eating these foods and using these supplements, you should have no problem getting that much choline in your system.

Don’t Allow Prolactin Levels to Climb Too High:

Here’s one of the biggest issues you might be ignoring: your prolactin levels. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, prolactin is a hormone that your body releases as a counterweight to dopamine. While dopamine is responsible for sexual arousal, prolactin is responsible for the feelings of sexual gratification. (13)

Generally, prolactin is an accepted aspect of the sexual experience. Unfortunately, high blood prolactin concentrations actually interfere with the function of testicles as well as the production of testosterone and sperm. (14)

How to Reduce Prolactin Levels:

If you’re looking to manage your prolactin levels, you’re in luck. According to a study at the University of Virginia, dopamine is actually an inhibitor of prolactin secretion. Translation? The more dopamine you have, the lower your prolactin levels will be. (15)

If that doesn’t work? Try using some supplements. Everything from a lack of Vitamin B6 to a magnesium deficiency can cause your prolactin levels to rise. Getting enough Zinc (50 mg a day) and Vitamin E (300 mg daily) in your diet should help you drop those prolactin levels.

Conclusion:

Dealing with poor morning wood is clearly something no one enjoys addressing. While all of this new information may feel a bit intimidating at first, your only chance at naturally mastering your morning erection is to pay attention to your body. If you’ve started noticing a distinct lack of morning wood these days, you owe it to yourself (and your partner) to take care of this issue.